Passes the Bechdel test
The Post
2018. Directed by Steven Spielberg, written by Liz Hannah and Josh Singer.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
24 women characters. 5 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 2 scenes out of 79. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3, though someone marked that rating as dubious.
The film
When American military analyst, Daniel Ellsberg, realizes to his disgust the depths of the US government's deceptions about the futility of the Vietnam War, he takes action by copying top-secret documents that would become the Pentagon Papers. Later, Washington Post owner, Kay Graham, is still adjusting to taking over her late husband's business when editor Ben Bradlee discovers the New York Times has scooped them with an explosive expose on those papers. Determined to compete, Post reporters find Ellsberg himself and a complete copy of those papers. However, the Post's plans to publish their findings are put in jeopardy with a Federal restraining order that could get them all indicted for Contempt. Now, Kay Graham must decide whether to back down for the safety of her paper or publish and fight for the Freedom of the Press. In doing so, Graham and her staff join a fight that would have America's democratic ideals in the balance.
- Released
- 12 Jan 2018
- Genres
- Biography, Drama, History
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 7.2 / 10
- Metascore
- 83 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 2 Oscars. 21 wins & 116 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Bradlee 353 lines, man
- Kay 261 lines, woman
- Fritz 70 lines, man
- Howard 58 lines, man
- Bagdikian 49 lines, man
- Lally 43 lines, woman
- Tony 41 lines
- Ignatius 39 lines, man
- Gene 34 lines, man
- Meg 28 lines, woman
Full cast, 115 people
- Meryl Streep as Kay Graham
- Tom Hanks as Ben Bradlee
- Sarah Paulson as Tony Bradlee
- Bob Odenkirk as Ben Bagdikian
- Tracy Letts as Fritz Beebe
- Bradley Whitford as Arthur Parsons
- Bruce Greenwood as Robert McNamara
- Matthew Rhys as Daniel Ellsberg
- Alison Brie as Lally Graham
- Carrie Coon as Meg Greenfield
- Jesse Plemons as Roger Clark
- David Cross as Howard Simons
- Zach Woods as Anthony Essaye
- Pat Healy as Phil Geyelin
- John Rue as Gene Patterson
- Rick Holmes as Murray Marder
- Philip Casnoff as Chalmers Roberts
- Jessie Mueller as Judith Martin
- Stark Sands as Don Graham
- Michael Cyril Creighton as Jake
- Will Denton as Michael
- Deirdre Lovejoy as Debbie Regan
- Michael Devine as Copy Chief
- Kelly Miller as Copy Editor
- Jennifer Dundas as Liz Hylton
- Austyn Johnson as Marina Bradlee
- Brent Langdon as Paul Ignatius
- Michael Stuhlbarg as Abe Rosenthal
- Deborah Green as Ann Marie Rosenthal
- Gary Wilmes as Punch Sulzberger
- Christopher Innvar as James Greenfield
- Luke Slattery as NY Times Runner
- Justin Swain as Neil Sheehan
- Robert G. McKay as NY Times Staffer
- Sasha Spielberg as Woman with Package
- Bryan Burton as Lafayette Protester
- Coral Peña as Nancy
- Dan Bittner as Government Lawyer
- Kenneth Tigar as Solicitor Griswold
- David Aaron Baker as Alexander Bickel
- Gannon McHale as Judge Gurfein
- Kevin Loreque as Waiter (F Street Club)
- Francis Dumaurier as Head Waiter (Oakroom)
- Stephen Mailer as Exchange President
- Ned Noyes as Lazard Banker
- John Henry Cox as Lazard Banker
- Dan Bucatinsky as Joe Alsop
- David Costabile as Art Buchwald
- Johanna Day as Ann Buchwald
- Annika Boras as Mrs. Alsop
- Carolyn McCormick as Mrs. McNamara
- Susan Blackwell as Dinner Wife
- Jordan Baker as Dinner Wife
- Lauren Lim Jackson as Eastern Air Stewardess
- Peter Van Wagner as Harry Gladstein
- Angus Hepburn as Judge Gessell
- James Riordan as Vice Admiral Blouin
- Kelly AuCoin as Kevin Maroney
- Cotter Smith as Under Secretary William Macomber
- Ben Livingston as Dennis Doolin
- Stephen Rowe as Judge Robb
- Rick Crom as Supreme Court Marshall
- Fenton Lawless as Linotype Printer
- Cullen Oliver Johnson as Linotype Printer
- JaQwan J. Kelly as Watergate Security Guard
- Brett G. Smith as Platoon Leader
- Brett Diggs as G.I.
- Anthony M Walker as G.I
- Saul Alvarez as G.I.
- Theis Weckesser as Military Advisor
- David Beach as Robert Komer
- Shawn Allen McLaughlin as Reporter (Andrews AFB)
- Shaun O'Hagan as Harry Rowen (RAND)
- Thaddeus Daniels as Rand Corp Guard
- Brendan Burke as Rand Corp Guard
- Celeste Arias as Lynda Sinay
- Sonny Valicenti as Tony Russo
- Patrick Noonan as LA Cop
- Will Blomker as LA Cop
- Amy Russ as White House Assistant
- Aaron Roman Weiner as Bob Haldeman
- Catherine Wolf as RAND Receptionist
- Joel Nagle as Man on Phone
- Tom Bair as Rehnquist (Asst AG)
- Walter Brandes as 18th Street Protester
- Juliana Davies as Katherine
- Hazel Mason as Pamela
- Ginger Mason as Pamela
- Sawyer Spielberg as Plaza Protester
- Mark Jacoby as Chief Justice Burger
- Jon Donahue as Bertram Plain
- Seth Barrish as Layout Editor
- Clarke Thorell as Layout Editor
- Joseph Tudisco as Delivery Man
- Steve Witting as NY Times Staffer
- Gary Galone as NY Times Staffer
- Frank Ridley as NY Times Staffer
- Jeremiah Wiggins as NY Times Staffer
- Alexander Sage Oyen as Protest Singer
- Brittney Johnson as Protest Singer
- Caleb Eberhardt as Protest Singer
- Don McCloskey as Protest Singer
- Estelle Bajou as Protest Singer
- Kaylyn Scardefield as Protest Singer
- Leslie Kujo as Protest Singer
- Lilli Cooper as Protest Singer
- Odiseas Georgiadis as Protest Singer
- Sean Meehan as Suspicious Man
- Steven Kearney as Ehrlichman
- Curzon Dobell as Nixon
- Matthew Piazzi as Newscaster
- Armand Schultz as WTOP-AM Reporter
- Jerry Lobrow as G.I. #4
- Mark Pinelli as AMEX Photographer
- Tony Walker as G.I. Soldier
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 2 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 9% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 79
Hover, tap or tab to a bar to see those scenes: where they happen and who's talking.
Show the numbers
| Scenes | Women's lines | Men's lines |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 2 | 35 | 41 |
| 3 to 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 to 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 to 8 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 to 10 | 4 | 16 |
| 11 to 12 | 8 | 34 |
| 13 to 14 | 21 | 84 |
| 15 to 16 | 0 | 13 |
| 17 to 18 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 to 20 | 10 | 11 |
| 21 to 22 | 13 | 11 |
| 23 to 24 | 0 | 17 |
| 25 to 26 | 1 | 13 |
| 27 to 28 | 29 | 0 |
| 29 to 30 | 17 | 37 |
| 31 to 32 | 19 | 20 |
| 33 to 34 | 0 | 3 |
| 35 to 36 | 10 | 23 |
| 37 to 38 | 0 | 17 |
| 39 to 40 | 0 | 2 |
| 41 to 42 | 0 | 3 |
| 43 to 44 | 24 | 41 |
| 45 to 46 | 19 | 21 |
| 47 to 48 | 6 | 16 |
| 49 to 50 | 10 | 1 |
| 51 to 52 | 2 | 30 |
| 53 to 54 | 14 | 9 |
| 55 to 56 | 0 | 39 |
| 57 to 58 | 6 | 8 |
| 59 to 60 | 0 | 30 |
| 61 to 62 | 11 | 37 |
| 63 to 64 | 0 | 0 |
| 65 to 66 | 13 | 23 |
| 67 to 68 | 17 | 3 |
| 69 to 70 | 0 | 14 |
| 71 to 72 | 2 | 24 |
| 73 to 74 | 41 | 3 |
| 75 to 76 | 0 | 1 |
| 77 to 78 | 10 | 16 |
| 79 to 79 | 9 | 12 |
The evidence
- Straight from the script
- Counted from the script and the credits
Tap an exhibit to open it.
Exhibit A: the passing scenes
The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.
KAY: That seems extreme. LALLY: Does it?
KAY: Darling, they’re terrified we’ll spill all of your secrets. LALLY: If they invited you - you would go, wouldn’t you? KAY: I’m not sure I’d look very good in a tuxedo.
LIZ: More of the letters came in today. KAY: I’ll take them. LIZ: Are you sure? They’re not - KAY: Yes.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 34 are women's.
351 lines from women, 673 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
24 women and 75 men in the cast. 5 women and 15 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
A woman speaks the first line.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 46 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 35% of the words (3,496), men 65% (6,619). Women have 34% of the lines, so their lines run longer than men's.
Exhibit E: the test the other way
Two named men talk to each other about something besides a woman. It passes the reverse test.
Conversations between two named characters
Two women
7
Two men
47
Exhibit F: behind the camera
6 of the 13 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 32% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Steven Spielberg (man)
- Written by
- Liz Hannah (woman), Josh Singer (man)
- Produced by
- Amy Pascal (woman), Kristie Macosko Krieger (woman), Steven Spielberg (man)
- Shot by
- Janusz Kamiński (man)
- Edited by
- Michael Kahn (man), Sarah Broshar (woman)
- Music by
- John Williams (man)
- Production design by
- Rick Carter (man)
- Costumes by
- Ann Roth (woman)
- Cast by
- Ellen Lewis (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
4 women, 22 men, 7 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
8 women, 2 men, 17 not listed
-
Other crew
0 women, 10 men, 10 not listed
-
Production
10 women, 8 men, 1 not listed
-
Art
3 women, 2 men, 9 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 8 men, 4 not listed
-
Editing
1 women, 6 men, 4 not listed
-
Lighting
0 women, 2 men, 7 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 45 on average. Men: 55 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Alison Brie 34, Carrie Coon 36, Sarah Paulson 43, Meryl Streep 68
Men
Matthew Rhys 43, Tracy Letts 52, Bob Odenkirk 55, Bradley Whitford 58, Tom Hanks 61, Bruce Greenwood 61
Exhibit H: the money
It made 3.6 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $50 million
- Box office
- $180 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 79 scenes and 1,128 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
